The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1887-04-09
THE ART OF READING.
The Practice and Patience Necessary.

There is an art. of reading, al
though many who read never
master il; an art to be acquired, as
all arts are acquired, by long and
paticnt practice. Those who learn
his art not only read books, but
emember then; not only gain the
alignment Of The first learn i'm
PRESTON of Il writer's style and
thought, but make his thinking Il
y. Of their own intellectual pos
ession forever after. There are
people who are continually making
he casual acquaintance OF Looks,
but never establish relation of en-
during friendship and intimacy
with them. They recall books as
hey them from time to time, but
,hey do not recall what they once
knew of them. There is contact,
but no cohesion, between such
reader and the books that have
passed under his eye. This kind
Of superficial knowledge with
literary works is not without its
advantages, but il misses entirely
the deeper and richer results of
reading; ii retains Il vague recollec-
ton instead OF the vitality, impulse
and power of anothers' mental
struggles and achievements.
The art of reading for mastery
of what one reads lies in concen-
tration OF attention. The trained
reader finds no difficulty in alb
stracting himself from the noise
and crowd of the horse car and
putting all his mind on the printed
page before him. For the moment
Morc's "U, 20 )ia" or the mary, lous
sland where Prospero works his
pCllS is more real t. him than the
)eople or the scene actual about
i'm. Everybody who frequents
bookstores has noticed men Who
have fallen on some curious or un.
'amiliar book, and are straightway
,blivious Of every thing else. They
ave for the moment escaped from
he rush OF the tides Of life around
hem, AMI found Il quiet of thought
ut once restful and inspiring. Al
the great scholars la g ma taret
his art characterization; it is the
secret of their achievements. n.
one can Rad Rel JCnsOn's play
nnI Mosques, SO full Of allusiOi
and the resource of scholarship; o,
IiltoI's splendid prose, enriched
With the spoils of all ages; o.
Gray's few but lasting cont ibu
lions to English verse, so pervadec
with The scholars. spirit withou
recognizing behind these mobiles
achievements of uind aud art +;
raining SO sustained and proiong
q rs to add certain nobility o
character to the work Of the liz.
lginutioa.
10 acquire this art Of conccntra
t,on, commence With the first goo,
b OK that comes to hand. Reat
and re- read its Iagcs until yo'
ind yourself absorbed in them
until you have forgotten that ther,
is anything in the world but th'
book and lis reader. Your though
will probably wander at the star
and for long time after. You
attention will be diverted b,
triiles arl und you; the least nois
Or mott on will lift your eye from
the line before it; so it has heel
with every one who began to Learn
iow to abstract himself from hi
surroundings and to concentrat
himsalf upon the thing in hant
and so it will be to the very end @
dime. The trained mind is separat
'd from these first irresolute an
eebic efforts by on thing only
practice. TO learn the art of con
'entration one must concentrat
lis mind again and again, patient
y and resolutcly, until, little b
little, his effort becomes habi
! When the habit is formed tn
nind has received its impulse, an
will do its work with increasin
sase and efficiency, until one is II
longer conscious of effort or resoll
don or labor Christian Union.
-=.--------------------
An old farmer in Wisconsin rod
, thirteen miles OH frosty mornin
TO say TO Il friend in whom he ha
confidence: "John, l bought SEC
worth Of silver mining stock
| couple Of months ago, and here's
notice about it," "Ah, / see it
! an assessment OF 81 per share" 81
9 an assessment Il dividend ." "Wh,
! no; one is money coming in an
! the other is money going ou
swell, that's what / wanted I
! know. If it was coming in, we
,, going to buy horse. Being its g'
{ ing out, Pve got to sell yoke {